Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $506.14 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $506.14.

Several research firms recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Moody’s by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $475.74 on Monday. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95. The firm has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.45, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $480.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $471.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.